So now I am 80-and-a-quarter years old! The initial shock of turning 80 has dimmed and I’m now able to crack jokes about it.
My third and final celebratory adventure: Where do I begin? In an effort to slide away from peak bagging and long-distance hiking, I agreed to go on another Wild Women trip. Deb, with whom I hiked the John Muir Trail, Kilimanjaro, Patagonia and others, really wanted to go to Greenland and Arctic Canada, so this became our destination. I did some homework on the geography and history. I noted temperature and climate info. But in no way did I realize how packed with imagery my brain would become. I will try to describe the things I saw.
I’m always saying “pull out your maps” and you must do it this time for sure! Find the western side of Greenland: Sismiut, Iluissat, Kangerlssuaq, Disko Island. Then cross the Davis Strait to northern Baffin Island, Canada. Take a break and read one or more of the books about early exploration by Europeans, all searching for the Northwest Passage — the short cut, if you will — from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Read about those who became lost or whose ships became frozen for many months.
The Adventure Canada company led this trip. There were a dozen of us “Wild Women” and another hundred-plus people aboard the Ocean Endeavour. Expedition experts included a former prime minister of Greenland (the first ever woman and indigenous representative to hold this office), a geologist, researchers of Arctic mammals and ornithologists. Several Inuit, indigenous people living in Nunavut, were available throughout. Special attention was paid to the effects of climate change on living things and the environment overall.
Our trip started in Western Greenland. How little I knew became apparent to me on this trip. I didn’t know that the ice sheet covers the vast majority of Greenland — that the people live around the fringes, by the water. That Greenland is, or was, a colony of Denmark, though self-governance increases. We flew to Kangerlussuaq. These coastal villages, far north of the Arctic circle, have colorful houses, fishing vessels, sled dogs, ATVs and snowmobiles but few wheeled vehicles (because there are few roads). We visited Sisimiut, Ilulissat, Disko Island. Disko is home to zillions of lemmings. Fishermen here take in 23 tons of cod a year! Sisimiut, 45 miles above the Arctic circle with a population of 5,500 (second largest town in Greenland), hosts a cultural center of amazing architecture. A World Heritage Site, boardwalks leads through vegetation sporting fall colors. Huge chunks of ice crunch in the ocean beneath the cliffs. Enormous icebergs. On hills nearby, a few hundred sled dogs of all ages are chained to their houses. These are working dogs and not pets. This area boasts the best hiking and sports destinations in Greenland.
We feared a rough crossing of the Davis Strait from Greenland to Canada, but it was calm. Enormous icebergs! Sitting at the back of the ship one could watch one single iceberg for an hour or two or three. (Strict speed limits are in effect throughout these waters to protect against ships hitting ice, whales or other wildlife.)
The remaining trip heads west through Nunavut, Canada’s newest, largest and least populated territory. Canada and the native Inuit came to an agreement that may just be the topic of my next column. Adventure Canada provided specialists who spoke of the makeup and breadth of the Nunavut Accord. I found it remarkable! The Inuit live much the same way as their ancestors.
Nunavut is the northernmost territory in Canada. With only 40,000 inhabitants (more than 80% Inuit or indigenous peoples), it is the least populated territory in Canada. It covers a huge area (800,000 square miles!) divided between mainland North America and an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. All areas we visited by boat (and listed below) are part of Nunavut Territory.
Over the next week we visited or passed (from east to west) Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Dundas Harbour, Cummings, Devon and Powell inlets, Port Leopold Bird Sanctuary, Prince Leopold Island, Beechey Island, Prescot Island, Bellot Strait, Pasley Island. There were areas of sea ice through James Ross Strait, and Kugluktuk at the Coppermine River where we departed the ship on day 16. Throughout, the feeling of awe crept in and grew: vast expanses of what appeared to be barren hills, without a tree to be seen. However, these plants were there; just in a different form.
Polar bears! Many of them. Huge and beautiful and fast both on land and in the water! Walrus! Also huge and with long tusks, just lounging around at the water’s edge. Seals — two or three different species — swimming in groups or bobbing their heads out of the water near the boat or lounging on slabs of ice, though ever vigilant of bears. An occasional whale. An advance team of orange clad, armed staff were the first to land at all our zodiac stops. They would maintain watch for polar bears. We stayed within that perimeter! Staff specializing in geology, marine mammals, birds, plants, ecology and human history helped to educate and direct us.
I never tired of the vista! Gravel, sand, rock often formed the base layer and then tiny plant life, lichen of different colors, white worm-like roots, sometimes a feather or an egg shell or bone. Even a butterfly or worm or bug. And always there are birds. We were usually free to climb up for views or to visit historic sites. The expanse! The seemingly endless treeless expanse. While there was snow at some locations, most of the landings were on dirt. Those locations with some water had wild flowers and grasses, the type that sustain life in a place that is lacking in light and warmth and soil.
Stand out memories:
One night an aurora borealis announcement woke us. Lovely. But what I found even more wonderful was that “my” winter constellations were all there — above me! Cassiopea, pleiades, etc.
Port Leopold Bird Sanctuary consists of rock cliffs that just jut right out of the ocean!
Thick billed murres, northern fulmars, black legged kittiwakes, Black guillemots, snow goose, dovkie, parasitic jaegers, glaucous gull, snow bunting, brant, both common and red-throated loons. On and on.
While in zodiacs one evening, studying “sea ice” or slurry (like a slushy at DQ), we saw a large harp seal on a flat slab of ice. Slowly creeping toward it from behind was a polar bear!
The top moment of awe for me was this: While walking along a “beach” we began to see movement in the water, very close to the shore. Within a few minutes it became apparent that there were many beluga whales! I tried block-counting them and guessed there were more than 500. What brought tears to my eyes was that they were so close we could hear their breath! And the young belugas, which are a charcoal black, were making sounds — like a baby’s moan or cry. It appeared that there were two or three or more adults to each baby. In a long line, they swam past us. Then, where the sheltered bay reached the open water, they turned around and swam back into the protected waters. One staffer guessed that perhaps they were helping to strengthen the young before they were to leave quiet waters. We were there a long time, just watching and listening and awestruck.